2/7/26 Summary - Game @ Woodbridge, Practice at Codey Arena and Birthday Party for El Capitan
For the 2nd time this season, the Dare Devils travelled south on the Parkway to take on our closest intrastate rivals, the Woodbridge Warriors. This iteration of the Parkway Derby required the Dare Devils to brave negative 15 degree windchills to navigate from the parking lot into the Woodbridge Community Center Rink. For one of the only times ever, the temperature in the rink was balmy compared to the temperature outside.
The heat in the rink was turned up even more as the players gathered outside of the locker room area. James Cooney, Connor Hung, Patrick Hung, Jimmy McTernan and Shea Passikoff all exited the locker room sporting their black "Jersey" jerseys, while the rest of the team was wearing white uniforms. Rumors started circulating amongst the parents as to why the Coaches/Managers children were all playing for the Warriors today. Parents started a conspiracy theory that the coaches/managers quit the Dare Devils and defected to the enemy. They were whispering, "why didn't I just use the availability function on the website" and "did I really need to ask what color jerseys are we wearing" and "why didn't I just volunteer to help at the holiday party?" However, the fears were unfounded. The Dare Devils in black were just showing good sportsmanship and volunteered to suit up for the short-handed Warriors. In turn, the Warriors lent the Dare Devils a goalie so there was great sportsmanship all-around.
The game itself was highly competitive and the teams battled throughout. Patrick Law led the actual Dare Devils by netting a hat-trick, with assists going to Owen Silverstein, TJ Howard, Will Milazzo and Ayden Duran. In addition to the goal scoring, Micayla Shields played a great all-around game, Charlie Gao made several nice plays, Liam Smith made several beautiful passes, Madison Mitchell and bestie Samantha Ciemiecki were all over the ice, Andrew Piccirillo was a steadying force, Orion Lee set up several teammates for scoring opportunities, Alfonso Mosca was flying around the rink and Will Milazzo was an anchor on the defensive end.
The Dare Devils that suited up in black for the Warriors all played on the same line throughout the game. Coach Terence gave them a pep talk about the importance of passing the puck and it resulted in many stick to stick passes throughout the game (both intentional and accidental). Jimmy McTernan heeded Coach T's instruction and was consistently going out of his way to make the extra pass and the hockey gods rewarded him with many goals and assists. All of the Dare Devils playing for the Warriors made the box score as follows: Jimmy McTernan (5 goals, 4 assists), Patrick Hung (3 goals, 3 assists), Shea Passikoff (2 goals, 3 assists), James Cooney (1 goal, 2 assists) and Connor Hung (1 goal, 2 assists).
In the end, the Warriors prevailed but a great time was had by everyone. A special thank you goes out to the Warriors for once again showing great sportsmanship and for treating us to a great party after the game.
Back at Codey, Coaches Myles, Eric and Steve Toledo ran a spirited practice and everyone in attendance helped Captain Ryan Griffin celebrate his belated birthday in the party room immediately after practice. A great time was had by all and Captain Ryan Griffin documented the action at Codey in a Captain's Corner post that can be found by clicking on this link. Happy Birthday, Cap! You are the best Captain imaginable!